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JEWS IN AMEEICA. 



[_Being a Reprint of the Article " America" from Volume I. of The Jewish Encyclopedia, 

Written iy Dr. Cyrus Adler, Assistant Secretary of the Smithsonian 

Institution, Washington, B. C] 



AKERZCA : The name " America " is used in 
this article in its broadest signification, as applied to 
the entire western world ; that is, North and South 
America and all the adjacent islands. 

The discovery of America hy Columbus, and the 
earliest expeditions and attempts at settlement in 
various parts of the continent and in many of the 
contiguous islands, are intimately connected with 
the Jews and their history. 

Columbus received great assistance from astro- 
nomical works prepared by Jews, and from scien- 
tific instruments of which Jews were 
the inventors. Luis de San tangel and 
Gabriel Sanchez — both Maranos — and 
Juan Cabrero, of Jewish descent, 
urged upon Queen Isabella the impor- 
tance of the plans of Columbus, and were instru- 
mental in securing the funds for the first and second 
voyages. The expenses of the latter were defrayed 
almost exclusively out of moneys derived from the 
confiscated properties of Jews. 

At least five persons of Jewish blood accompanied 
Columbus upon his first voyage, among whom spe- 
cial mention must be made of Luis de Torres, who 
was to have acted in the capacity of interpreter. 



Jews Ac- 
company 
Columbus. 



Torres is said to have been the first European to 
tread the soil of America, and the first to discover 
the use of tobacco. He settled and died in Cuba. 

On March 31, 1493, the Catholic monarchs issued 
a decree to the effect that within four months all 
Jews and Jewesses were to leave the kingdoms and 
lands of Spain. On April 30 the decree was pub- 
licly announced by the heralds; and on the same 
day Columbus was ordered to equip a fleet for his 
voyage to the Indies. On Aug. 2, 1493, about 300, - 
000 Jews left Spain to settle wherever they might 
find a shelter ; and on the following day the fleet of 
Columbus set sail. His journal opens with a refer- 
ence to the coincidence in time of these two events. 
Columbus' first account of his discovery took the 
form of a letter to his Jewish patron, Santangel. 

The facts mentioned suffice to explain the very 
early presence of Jews in America (see Kayserling, 
"Christopher Columbus and the Participation of 
Jews in the Spanish and Portuguese Discoveries," 
New York, 1894, and the article America, Discov- 
ery op; Jew. Enct. Vol. I.). 

Brazil : Brazil was discovered in 1499 by a Span- 
iard, Pinzon, and independently in 1500 by a Portu- 
guese, Pedro Alvarez de Cabral. With him was a 



493 



THE JEWISH ENCYCLOPEDIA 



Amen 
America 



Jewish mariner, Gaspar, who was of much assist- 
ance in the discovery of Brazil and who is favorably 
mentioned by Amerigo Vespucci (Kayserling, I.e. 
p. 117). Brazil was the part of America earliest in- 
habited by large numbers of Jews. Portugal sent 
annually two shiploads of Jews, and criminals, and 
also deported persons who had been condemned by 
the Inquisition. The Maranos are said 
Early to have quickl}' thrown off their mask 
Portuguese and to have professed Judaism. As 

Colonies, early as 1548 (according to some, 1531) 
Portuguese Jews, it is asserted, trans- 
planted the sugar-cane from Madeira to Brazil; but 
whether this be true or false, it is indisputable that 
nearly all the large sugar-plantations of Brazil dur- 
ing the first half of the seventeenth century belonged 
to Jews. 

So extensive had the emigration to Portuguese 
colonies become in 1557 that on June 30 of that year 
an edict was issued forbidding Maranos to leave 
Portugal. A stringent law was passed prohibiting 
the settlement of Jews in the Spanish colonies as 
well, yet some of position and wealth were among 
the early settlers. This is indicated by the fact that 
the prohibition was removed in 1577 upon the pay- 
ment by the Jews in the colonies of the enormous 
sum of 1,700,000 cruzados, equivalent to about $714,- 
000. In 1611 mention is made of wealthy Maranos 
making the return trip from Bahia to Portugal. 

That Jews had settled in Brazil, prior to the 
Dutch occupation, in sufficient numbers to make 
them a military factoi', is shown by the argument 
advanced in favor of an attack by the Dutch West 
India Company on the Portuguese in Brazil, " that 
the Jews there would be ready to aid the Dutch in 
any attempt." This attack was successfully made 
in 1624, at which time all the Jews in the country 
united in the formation of a congregation. Jews 
had invested largely in the Dutch 
Under West India Company ; and to this fact 

D u t c li the favorable attitude of the Holland 
Rule. authorities is traceable. Those who 
had come over under Portuguese and 
Dutch rule were reenforced in 1642 by a party of 600 
from Amsterdam, bringing with them Hakam Isaac 
Aboab, who settled at Recife (Pernambuco), and was 
probably the first rabbi in Brazil. Among these 
settlers was also Ephraim Sueiro, a step-brother of 
Manasseh ben Israel. Manasseh himself intended 
to emigrate to Brazil, as is learned from a letter of 
Vossius to Grotius; but he was dissuaded by the 
leading men of his community. There were also 
settlements at Parahiba, Bahia, and Rio de Janeiro. 
It is estimated that at Recife alone there were more 
than 5,000 Jews in 1654. 

The Brazilian Jews enjoyed the same rights as 
other Dutch subjects; and they rendered valuable 
services both as soldiers and in civil life. 

The first Spanish and Portuguese settlers in Amer- 
ica, other than banished criminals, were adventurers 
seeking land for the crown or gold for themselves. 
This was not true of the Jews. Expelled first from 
Spain, next from Portugal, they desired only a place 
in which they might have the opportunity to live 
and to throw off the mask of Christianity which they 
had been forced to wear. Though they engaged 
largely in commerce — in which they had especial ad- 
vantages, having correspondents in Venice, in Tur- 
key, and in other countries to which their corelig- 
ionists had emigrated — they counted among their 
number several scholars, and during the Dutch oc- 
cupation maintained friendly relations with learned 
men in Amsterdam. 

The first trace of Jewish literature in America is 



found in 1636, when some Brazilian Jews, in dispute 
about liturgical questions, sought counsel of Rabbi 
Hayyim Shabbethai of Salonica. In the middle of 
the seventeenth century there were living in Brazil, 
in addition to Rabbi Isaac Aboab mentioned above, 
a well-known Talmudist, Jacob La- 
First garto, and the poet Elitahu Ma- 
American chorro. Apparently the first Jewish 

Jewish scholar born on American soil was 

Scholar. Jacob de Velosino, born in Pernam- 
buco in 1657, a philosopher, physician, 
and polemical writer of ability. 

In 1646 war broke out between the Dutch and the 
Portuguese ; and in this struggle, which lasted nine 
years, the Jews aided the Dutch until the end. The 
Dutch capitulation (1654) contained a rather ominous 
clause wherein the Portuguese promised to the Jews 
"an amnesty in all wherein they could promise it." 
The sufferings of the Jews in this war are related in 
a poem by Isaac Aboab, which is probably the earli- 
est product extant of Jewish authorship on Ameri- 
can soil. 

Although it does not appear that the Inquisition 
was formally established in Brazil, there is evidence 
to the effect that the Holy Office seized suspected 
persons and sent them to Portugal for trial. At all 
events, the Portuguese conquest was followed by 
the dispersion of the Jewish colony. Many returned 
to Amsterdam, some went to the French settlements 
— Guadeloupe, Martinique, and Cayenne — some to 
CuraQao, and others to New Amsterdam. We have 
travelers' statements to the effect that as late as 1850 
a few remained in Brazil as Maranos ; and in very 
recent times small congregations have been formed. 

Mexico : Mexico, which contained the most 
highly civilized aborigines on the American conti- 
nent, was invaded by Cortez in 1519; the capital 
was captured in 1521, and the country made a Span- 
ish colony under the name of Nueva Espana (New 
Spain). 

The most authentic information concerning the 
Jews of Mexico is unhappily contained in the records 
of the Inquisition, from which accurate, if not de- 
tailed, accounts are derived. 

The first auto da fe celebrated in New Spain was 
held in the year 1536; and the first Jew, or rather 
" Judaizer " {J-udaisant), as he was called, mentioned 
in these records is a certain Francisco Millan, who 
was "reconciled " in the year 1539. His case seems, 
however, to have been a solitary one ; since for many 
years after all of those tried by the Inquisition were 
Lutherans or persons otherwise suspected of heresy. 

In 1571 the Inquisition was formally established 

in Mexico, for the purpose "of freeing the land, 

which had been contaminated by Jews 

Jews and and heretics, especially of the Portu- 

the In- guese nation. " 
quisition. It is not until 1578 that the names 
of Jews — three in that year — are again 
met with ; and from that time on, until the close of 
the Inquisition records of Mexico in 1803 (the Holy 
Ofllce was not formally disestablished in Mexico 
until 1830), a large proportion, possibly as many as 
one-half, of those tried were Jews. Since all of these 
were Maranos, and a great number of the secret Jews 
must have escaped the eye of the Inquisition, a fair 
conception may thus be obtained of the very consid- 
erable number who settled and lived in Mexico dur- 
ing this period. Paramus, the historian, writing in 
1599, states that in spite of all obstacles the Jews 
publicly celebrated their Passover; but the state- 
ment is open to question. 

Some idea of the number of Jews in Mexico in 
the middle of the seventeenth century may be gained 



V 



America 



THE JEWISH ENCYCLOPEDIA 



494 



from the fact that, in a single trial by the Inquisi- 
tion — that of a boy in 1642--the names of no less 
than eighty-six Judaizers are mentioned. It is gen- 
erally assumed that one of the principal motives of 
the Inquisition was the confiscation of estates; and 
it is unquestionably true that a considerable propor- 
tion of the Jews tried in Mexico were mine-owners 
or merchants. Nevertheless, there must have been 
many Mexican Jews in the humbler walks of life. 
Between 1600 and 1650 the following occxipations of 
Jews and Jewesses are recorded: butcher, gilder, 
baker, sugar-hawker, peanut- vender, silversmith, 
juggler, nurserymaid, and seamstress. 

In recent times Jews have again immigrated to 
Mexico; and for a short time a Jewish journal was 
published in the capital city. 

From 1590 until the revolt of Mexico from Span- 
ish rule the Philippine Islands were governed 
through the viceroy and audiencia of Mexico ; and 
prior to 1601 at least four Jews had gone from Mex- 
ico to the citjr of Manila. 

Other South. American States : Peru was cap- 
tured by the Spanish in 1533-34; and many Spanish 
Jews took refuge in Lima. Philip II. took rigorous 
measures against them, and early introduced the In- 
quisition. From imperfect records it appears that 
a Jew was burnt there in 1581. In 1639 twelve 
Portuguese merchants, supposed to be Jews, were 
burnt, one of them being described as " the Judai- 
zing millionaire Manuel Bautista Perez." Six thou- 
sand Portuguese, of whom it may be assumed many 
were Jews, purchased the right of residence upon 
the payment of 300,000 ducats. It appears to be 
the opinion of writers upon the Inquisition that in 
Lima the Holy Office was particularly rapacious, 
and that all rich Portuguese were charged with be- 
ing Judaizers. Yet it is extremely likely that this 
cynical view is incorrect, and that the larger num- 
ber of Portuguese in Peru in earlj' 
Peru. days were actually Maranos. A fcAv 
details of the history of the Jews in 
Peru are known, through a memoir composed from 
original manuscript sources by B. Vicuna MacKenna, 
of a certain Francisco Moyen, who suffered most 
grievously from the Inquisition in the eighteenth 
century. In very recent times Jews to the number 
of about 500 have resettled in Peru. 

Jews are also to be found in very small numbers 
in Venezuela, Costa Rica, and other South American 
states. To the Argentine Republic, however, there 
has been a systematic immigration, due directly to the 
efforts of Baron de Hirsch. It is estimated that 
there are now settled in that country about 6,755 
Jews (see Agricultural Colonies in the Argen- 
tine Republic). 

Surinam : As early as 1644 the Jews commenced 
to go in small numbers to Paramaribo. In 1662 
Lord Willoughby secured from Charles II. permis- 
sion to colonize Surinam ; and two years later the 
Jewish colony of Cayenne, which had been dis- 
banded, removed to Surinam. 

In February, 1667, Surinam, then an English col- 
ony, surrendered to a Dutch fleet. The articles of 
surrender provided that English subjects disposed to 
leave the colonj' should be at liberty to do so. Six 
months later Surinam was retaken by the English 
fleet and became again an English colony ; but by 
the treaty of Breda (July 16, 1667) it was restored to 
the Dutch. The circumstance became important 
because the British government made strong repre- 
sentations to Holland on behalf of Jewish residents 
of Surinam who, under this clause of the treaty, de- 
sired to leave for Jamaica, but to whom the Dutch 
authorities at Surinam refused permission to depart, 



on account of their wealth and standing. In spite 

of the " alien " status of Jews domiciled in English 

possessions from the point of view of British law, 

the Council of Great Britain found it expedient to 

recognize Jews as British subjects at this early date. 

The Dutch continued to the Jews the 

Jews privileges which had been accorded 

Regarded them by the English. A synagogue 

as British was built at Savanna, which was 

Subjects, called "Jews' Town," and is said to 

have been inhabited exclusively by 

Jews. Another and a larger synagogue was erected 

at Paramaribo. 

Many of the colonists — probably the major part 
of them — left with the English fleet under Captain 
Willoughby, and settled in Jamaica and Barba- 
dos. In 1669 the Dutch government gave the Jews 
of Surinam a formal promise that they would be 
allowed the free exercise of their religion. They 
were largely engaged in agriculture, and were the 
first cultivators of the sugar-cane in Surinam. 
When, in 1689, a French fleet made a sudden attack 
upon Surinam it was met with brave resistance by 
the Jews, under Samuel Nassy; and on a second 
attack in 1713, the Jews, under Captain Isaac Pinto, 
made a stubborn fight. They were also foremost in 
the suppression of the negro revolts from 1690 to 
1773. The first rabbi in Surinam was Isaac Neto : 
the date of his immigration to the colony must have 
been about 1674. 

In 1685 the Congregation Berakah we-Shalom of 
Savanna built a splendid synagogue. This was prob- 
ably rendered possible by the considerable additions 
to the colony from Brazil after the recouquest of the 
country by the Portuguese. In 1890 the Jews in 
Surinam numbered about 1,560, having two syna- 
gogues, one following the Spanish and the other the 
German rite. 

Cayenne : A colony was established here proba- 
bly as early as 1650 ; and this was augmented by a 
party of 153 which set sail for Cayenne in August, 
1660. Among them was the Spanish- Jewish poet, 
historian, and litterateur Miguel (or Daniel) de Bar- 
rios. In 1664 the colony at Cayenne was dissolved ; 
the inhabitants moving to Surinam (as stated above), 
to Jamaica, and to Barbados. 

Curapao : In 1650 twelve Jewish families were 
brought to Curasao. 

In 1653 two leagues of land along the coast for 
fifty families, and four leagues for one hundred fam- 
ilies, were granted by the Dutch West India Com- 
pany to Joseph Nunez de Fonseca (alias David Nassi) 
and others, to found a colony of Jews in that island. 
As early as 1654, direct relations between these set- 
tlers and the inhabitants of New Netherlands were 
established. In that year immigrants of wealth and 
standing arrived in considerable numbers from Bra- 
zil. The first burial-ground was established in 1656 ; 
and by 1693 the Congregation Mikveh Israel had 
completed its synagogue. A second congregation, 
Neveh Shalom, was established in 1740, and in 1865 
a Reform congregation, under the name "Emanuel." 
In 1690 a party of about ninety set sail for North 
America, and established themselves in Rhode Island 
(Newport). 

West Indies : In 1503 King Ferdinand prohib- 
ited the settlement in the West Indies of any more 
Jews; and in 1506 he ordered the bishops to pro- 
ceed against such as might be already settled there. 
As noted above, Luis de Torres, who accompanied 
Columbus on his first voyage, settled and died in 
Cuba. It is asserted that as early as 1493 young 
Jewish children were, after baptism, sent to the 
island of St. Thomas. In 1642 mention is made of 



495 



THE JEWISH ENCYCLOPEDIA 



America 



a certain Miguel Nunez, a Marano in Cuba; and 
some authorities incline to the opinion that the first 
considerable settlement of Jews in New Amsterdam 
came from that island. 

Barbados : Jews settled in Barbados as early as 
1628 ; but the first definite information relates to the 
year 1661, when certain traders petitioned the king 
to permit them to live and trade in Barbados and 
Surinam. As early as 1664 reference is made to 
a Jew, named Seiior Abraham Israel de Pisa, who 
found gold in the island. Another person of nearly 
the same name, Isaac Israel de Piso, fell under the 
king's displeasure in March, 1665, owing to his fail- 
ure to find the expected gold-mines. In 1668 Jews 
are mentioned as owners of sugar- works. In 1671 
Moses Pereyra was made a free denizen ; and in 1673 
the Jews began an agitation for recognition of their 
rights as citizens. On Feb. 18, 1674, 
Privileges a law was passed granting them the 
as to privilege of taking the oath upon the 
Taking five books of Moses; and in January, 
Oath. 1675, a favorable response was made 
by the Assembly to their petition for 
the extension of their trade privileges. In 1676 Gov- 
ernor Sir Jonathan Atkins reported that there were 
about 30 Jewish families of Dutch extraction from 
Brazil. On Oct. 29, 1679, Jacob Senior arrived at 
Barbados. In the year 1680, according to a contem- 
porary document, there were 54 adult Jews and 182 
children, residing in and about the town of St. Mi- 
chaels. These Jews owned a large number of slaves. 
In 1679 a few of the Barbados Jews emigrated — 3 to 
London, 2 to Jamaica, and 1 to Surinam. According 
to the census of 1891 there were 21 Jewish families 
on the island. 

Jamaica : Jews probably settled here in consider- 
able numbers in the second half of the sixteenth 
century. 

The first Jews — six in number — who were intro- 
duced into Jamaica under British government in 
1663. came on the ship " Great Guest, " Captain Ber- 
nard In December, 1671, Governor Lynch reported 
to Lord Arlington that the king could have no more 
profitable subjects than the Jews. Meanwhile peti- 
tions of merchants against them were considered by 
the king's council ; the request being that the Jews 
be restricted to wholesale trade, which proposition 
the council rejected. In 1700 the Jews presented 
to Sir William Beeston, governor-in-chief of Ja- 
maica, a petition asking for exemption from special 
taxes, and reciting other grievances. 

The trade between London and Jamaica was prin- 
cipally in Jewish hands; and by 1750 about 200 
Jews resided and had been naturalized in that island. 
One of the best-known literary men of Jamaica was 
Daniel Israel Lopez, who translated the Psalms into 
Spanish. At the present day there is a flourishing 
Jewish community in Jamaica. 

Leeward Islands : On Aug. 31, 1694, an act 
was passed to prevent Jews from engrossing com- 
modities imported into the Leeward Islands, which 
act was repealed in 1701 — an indication that there 
must have been an early settlement of considerable 
proportions there. 

Porto Kico : Of Porto Rico nothing is known 
concerning any early Jewish settlement. In recent 
years, since the Spanish-American war, Jews have 
immigrated thither ; and there is now a flourishing 
congregation. 

The Resettlement in England and Its Re- 
lation to America : Not without great interest is 
the intimate connection between American history 
and the resettlement of Jews in England. Accord- 
ing to Lucien Wolf, " American history really played 



a very considerable part in bringing about the return 
of the Jews to England." It was in America that 
religious liberty won its first victory. A Jewish 
traveler, Antonio de Montezinos, was fully per- 
suaded that in the American Indians he had found 
the Lost Ten Tribes — a belief which has had an ex- 
traordinary vitality. He related this story to Manas- 
seh ben Israel ; and his narrative made a profound 
impression. This fact accorded with 
Aborigines the view of the times, that the disper- 
and , sion was complete except for one par- 
Lost Ten ticular land, England ; and Manasseh 
Tribes. argued that if the Jews would return 
to England, the Messiah would come. 
This view he promulgated in his work, " The Hope 
of Israel. " The notion that the American aborigines 
were the Lost Ten Tribes has played an important 
part among Americanists. Besides those named 
above, it was held by Roldan, Garcia, Thorowgood, 
Adair, and Lord Kingsborough; and, though with- 
out important adherents among students of the 
American aborigines, it is still discussed as a theory 
to be considered. 

It seems not unlikely that some of the members of 
the Crypto-Jewish community in London, prior to 
the Restoration, came from the American continent. 
United States : The greatest prosperity and the 
largest population reached by any nation on the 
American continent have been attained by the United 
States; it is not surprising, therefore, that it now 
contains a larger number of Jews than any country 
in the world save Russia and Austria. 

About forty years after the settlement of New 
Amsterdam Jews commenced to arrive there. They 
gradually made their way to all of the original thir- 
teen colonies; and by the time of the outbreak of 
the Revolutionary War, they had in several com- 
munities reached honorable positions in commerce 
and in society. 

Most of the early colonists in North America were 
of Sephardic stock, and came from Brazil, West 
Indies, Portugal, and Holland. At a 
Early later date some came from England. 
Colonists Yet German and Polish Jews came to 
Mainly America much earlier than is usually 
Sephardic. supposed. Some of these settled in 
Pennsylvania, New York, Maryland, 
Virginia, and South Carolina in the earliest Colonial 
period. The Sephardim, however — at this time con- 
stituting the larger number — usually organized the 
congregations ; and the fact of the early immigration 
of Ashkenazic Jews has thus been lost sight of by 
most writers. German Jews seem even to have been 
among the martyrs of the Inquisition in Mexico. 

New York : By a letter written April 4, 1652, 
from Amsterdam by the director of the West India 
Company to the governor and council of New Neth- 
erlands, it appears that Jews were on the muster- 
rolls of soldiers and sailors sent out to the colony, 
and that they engaged to serve for a term of one 
year. As early as 1655 there were both Portuguese 
and German Jews in the colony. 

The first Jewish settler in New Amsterdam whose 

name has been handed down was Jacob Barsimson, 

who arrived on July 8, 1654, in the 

First ship "Pear Tree." He was followed 

Jewish in the same year by a party of 23, who 

Settlers, arrived in the bark "St. Catarina." 

It is generally assumed that they came 

from Brazil, although it is also held that they started 

from some part of the West Indies, most likely 

Cuba; and some had, unquestionably, spent a longer 

or a shorter time in Jamaica. They were received 

in an unfriendly fashion by Stuy vesant, the Dutch 



Aiaerica 



THE JEWISH ENCYCLOPEDIA 



496 



governor of New Amsterdam, who wrote to the 
directors of the Dutch West India Company asking 
authority for their exclusion. This the directors re- 
fused to grant (April 26, 1655) on the ground of 
" the considerable loss sustained by the Jews in the 
taking of Brazil, and also because of the large 
amount of capital which they have invested in the 
shares of the company. " They directed that " they 
[the Jews] shall have permission to sail to and trade 
in New Netherland, and to live and remain there." 
This permission was modified on March 
Early 13, 1656, by the statement that the 
Privileges Jews were not privileged to erect a 
and Be- synagogue; and a little later they 
strictions. were precluded from emploj^ment 
in any public service, and from open- 
ing retail shops. 

One of the sturdiest pioneers of the New Amster- 
dam colony was Asser Levy. In 1655 he, among 
others, applied to be enlisted in the militia ; but per- 
mission was refused, and, in common with all other 
Jews, he was, instead, ordered to pay a tax. This 
he refused to do : and on Nov. 5, 1655, he petitioned 
for leave to stand guard like other burghers of New 
Amsterdam. The petition was rejected; but Levy 
seems to have appealed to Holland, for it subse- 
quently appears that he was permitted to do guard- 
duty like other citizens. Step by step, through the 
courts and by appeals, he secured many other privi- 
leges (see New York and Assee Levt). He seems 
to have been the first Jew in the state of New York 
to hold real estate : a lot on what is now the site of 
Albany was owned by him in 1661. 

Another of the most prominent of the early Jews 
in New Amsterdam was Abraham de Lucena, who 
in 1655 applied, with several others, for permission 
to purchase a site for a burial-ground. The request 
was refused with the statement that there was then 
no need for it. On July 14, 1656, however, the re- 
quest was granted. 

New Amsterdam was captured by the British in 
1664 and its name changed to New York. For a 
half-century afterward but little is known respect- 
ing the Jewish residents. Their increase in numbers 
was very moderate. It seems likely that they had 
some sort of private worship very soon after 1655, 
and that they began to meet in a more or less public 
way in 1673. In 1683 the congregation rented a 
house on Mill street; and it was not until 1739 
that this was exchanged for a regular synagogue 
building. / 

On Nov. 15, 1727/an act was passed by the Gen- 
eral Assembly of New York providing that when 
the oath of abjuration was to be taken 
Under by any one of his British Majesty's 
British, subjects professing the Jewish relig- 
Kule. ion, the words " upon the true faith of 
a Christian " might be omitted. Three 
days later an act was passed naturalizing one Daniel 
Nunez da Costa. 

There was a very considerable antipathy in the 
colony both to Catholics and to Jews ; but in the 
case of the latter this gradually relaxed, so that they 
soon came to receive most of the privileges accorded 
to other inhabitants of the town and province. In 
1737, however, the Assembly of New York decided 
that no Jew might vote for a member of that body. 
Before and during the Revolutionary War the 
Jews, like the other inhabitants of New York, were 
divided in their allegiance. Many were devoted to 
the patriot cause ; and among these was the minister 
of the congregation, Gershom Mendes Seixas, who, 
upon the occupation of New York by the British, 
took all the belongings of the synagogue and, with 



quite a number of the members, removed to Phila- 
delphia, where he founded the lirst regularly estab- 
lished congregation, the Mickve Israel. After the 
close of the war most of these Jews returned to New 
York, which, on the decline of Newport as a com- 
mercial city, took its place and rapidly attracted a 
large population. The tide of immigration now 
commenced to flow toward the United States, most 
largely in the first instance to New York city. 
Hither came Jews from the West Indies, from Ger- 
many, Poland, Russia, Rumania, in short, from every 
quarter of the globe. It is estimated 
Modern that the city of New York alone 
Jewry of now (1901) contains 500,000 Jews; and 
New York, there are 110 congregations enumer- 
ated exclusive of numerous small 
ones. Jews are now represented in New York city 
in every walk of life, professional, commercial, and 
industrial. 

From the city, Jews gradually penetrated to the 
state. A congregation was founded at Buffalo in 
1885, one at Albany in 1837, and another at Roches- 
ter in 1848 ; and all of the larger and many of the 
smaller towns in New York state now have Jewish 
communities. 

Newport, R. I.: The hostile attitude of Stuyve- 
sant probably caused Jewish emigrants to leave 
New Amsterdam as early as 1655 and to settle in 
Newport. There is definite information to the effect 
that 15 Jewish families arrived in 1658, who brought 
with them the first degrees of Masonry. They were 
reinforced by a contingent from Curasao in 1690. 

Quite in contrast with the oppressive treatment in 
New Amsterdam was the generous reception ac- 
corded the Jews in Rhode Island, in 
Jews Cor- consonance with the liberal principles 
dially propounded by Roger Williams. Al- 
Beceived. ready in the seventeenth century the 
Jews of Newport had commercial rela- 
tions with their coreligionists in New Amsterdam. 

It is likely that religious services were first held in 
Newport in 1658, although no synagogue was erected 
until the following century. A burial-place, how- 
ever, was purchased on Feb. 38, 1677. 

In 1750 a very important accession was received 
in the families of Lopez, Rivera, Pollock, Hart, and 
Hays, all persons of wealth and enterprise engaged 
in manufacture and commerce. These families came 
from Spain, Portugal, and the West Indies. The 
extent of the property of Aaron Lopez is shown by 
the fact that at one time he owned as many as 30 
vessels. Jacob Rodrigues-Rivera, a native of Por- 
tugal, came to Newport about 1745. He was the 
first person to introduce the manufacture of sperma- 
ceti in America. 

In 1763 the erection of a synagogue was begun, 
which was completed and dedicated in the following 
year. Two years previously there had 
Synagogue come from Jamaica the Rev. Isaac 
Built. Touro, who was chosen rabbi; and 
under his auspices the synagogue was 
well attended until the outbreak of the American 
Revolution. In 1763 there were between 60 and 70 
Jewish families in Newport. The first Jewish ser- 
mon preached in America which has been published 
was delivered in the Newport synagogue on May 28, 
1773, by Rabbi Hayyim Isaac Karigel, in the Spanish 
language, and was afterward translated into English. 
Karigel appears to have come from Hebron in Pales- 
tine, and was a close friend of Ezra Stiles, the presi- 
dent of Yale University. As early as 1761 a Jewish 
club was formed, with a membership limited to 9 
persons. Just before the outbreak of the Revolu- 
tionary War the Jewish population of Newport 



497 



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America 



appears to have comprised about 200 families. The 
community was dispersed by the war ; and it never 
regained its importance. In 1790 it presented an 
address to Washington. The Touro family be- 
queathed sufficient money to maintain the synagogue 
as well as the cemetery ; and these are still in exist- 
ence, although the number of Jews now resident in 
Newport is but small. 

The Jewish community of Newport held an espe- 
cially interesting and even a unique position in 
America, and impressed itself for all time on the 
town, once the leading port of the colonies and now 
the most fashionable summer resort in the United 
States. 

Other Parts of New England : An occasional 
Jew may have strayed into other portions of New 
England in the early days ; but the Puritan atmos- 
phere was apparently not congenial. The best 
known of the early settlers was Judah Monis, who 
became a convert to Christianity, and filled the chair 
of Hebrew in Harvard College from 1733 until his 
death in 1764. 

As early as 1670 there is mention of a Jew, Jacob 
Lucene, in the Colonial Records of Connecticut. 

When the British took Newport many of the Jews 
there left and effected a temporary settlement at 
Leicester, Mass. ; but this did not survive the close 
of the war. A number of Jews, including the 
Hays family, settled at Boston before 1800. About 
1840 Jews began to emigrate from New York to 
New Haven and Boston ; and congregations were 
formed in those cities in 1840 and 1843 respectively. 
The communal life of the New Eng- 
Ne-w Haven land Jews was without especial inci- 
and Boston, dent; and their numbers increased but 
slowly until after the beginning of the 
great Russian emigration in 1883. Immediately the 
overflow from New York, as well as the emigration 
through Canada, commenced to pour into New Eng- 
land. It is estimated that 60,000 Jews now (1901) 
reside in Massachusetts alone, and nearly 30,000 
more in the other New England states. 

An interesting phenomenon has been noticed in 
connection with the shifting of agricultural industry 
in the United States. With the opening up of the 
Western country and the greater advantages offered 
by the virgin soil, many New England farmers abso- 
lutely abandoned their comparatively unfruitful 
farms and moved West. These aban- 

Russian doned farms, especially in Connecti- 
Jews cut, have been taken up by Russian 
as Farmers. Jews, who, principally as dairy farm- 
ers, have added a new and useful ele- 
ment to the agricultural community. 

Maryland : It seems not unlikely that Maryland 
was the first colony in which Jews settled, though 
they were probably stragglers; and it was long be- 
fore any communal life was established. 

Scattered Jews seem to have arrived shortly after 
the establishment of the provincial government in 
1634. At least as early as 1657 Dr. Jacob Lumbrozo 
was settled there, and in 1658 he was tried and re- 
manded for blasphemy, his release being due to the 
general amnesty in honor of the accession of Richard 
Cromwell (declared March 3, 1658). Letters of deni- 
zation were issued to him Sept. 10, 1663. He had a 
plantation and also practised medicine. He is de- 
scribed as from Lisbon ; but he had a sister in Holland. 

The history of the Jews in Maryland is of especial 
interest ; since it was in this colony and state that 
the civil and political rights of Jews were most re- 
stricted, and it was here, of all America, that the 
most systematic efforts were put forth for obtaining 
the fullest recognition under the law. Maryland 
I.— 33 



was one of the first colonies to adopt religious toler- 
ation as the basis of the state ; but it was toleration 
and not liberty, since there was a proviso that any 
person who denied the Trinity was to be punished 
with death. Even after the Revolution, no one 
might hold any office of profit or trust under the 
state without signing a declaration that he believed 
in the Christian religion. 

Efforts were made in 1801 and 1804 to obtain a 
revocation of this proviso; but on both occasions 
more than two-thirds of the legislature 
Jews Hold voted against its repeal. These efforts 
Public were renewed in 1819, and finally suc- 
Positions. ceeded, so that in 1834 two Jewish citi- 
zens were elected members of the Coun- 
cil of Baltimore, being the first Jews to hold office 
in the state of Maryland. The success of these 
efforts was largely due to the persistent labors of a 
single family — the Cohens — who still maintain an 
honored position in the community. 

At the outbreak of the Civil War, Maryland, al- 
though remaining in the Union, numbered among 
her citizens a large body of sympathizers with the 
Confederate cause. The conflict of opinion was es- 
pecially severe among the Jews, due to the pro- 
nounced antislavery attitude assumed by Rabbi 
David Einhorn, who was actually threatened with 
violence and was obliged to leave the city. 

Pennsylvania : Jews from New Amsterdam 
traded along South river, subsequently named the 
Delaware, as early as 1655, and began to arrive as 
settlers in the colony of Pennsylvania not much 
more than ten years after its establishment. Unlike 
New York and Newport, a very considerable pro- 
portion of the early Pennsylvania colonists were not 
Portuguese, but German Jews ; and they settled not 
in Philadelphia, but in towns in the interior of the 
state. The earliest settlements seem to have been 
in Schaefersville and Lancaster. Joseph Simon, who 
in the latter place was the pioneer, about 1740 em- 
barked in the Indian trade and in real-estate trans- 
actions on a large scale. In 1747 the 
Schaefers- deed for a Jewish cemetery in Lancas- 
ville, Lan- ter was made out in his name and in 
caster, that of Isaac Nunes Ricus as trustees. 
andEaston. Myer Hart was one of the founders of 
Easton in 1750. He was engaged in 
trade, and was there naturalized on Oct. 3, 1764. 
Aaron Levy settled in Northumberland county. Pa., 
about 1760, and was a large landowner. In 1786 he 
founded the town of Aaeonsbtjrg in Centre county. 
The Jewish community of Philadelphia was for a 
time the leading one in the United States, and was 
inferior in numbers only to that of New York. The 
first Jewish settler in Philadelphia of whom there is 
record was Jonas Aaron (1703), and the second was 
Arnold Bamberger (1736). As early as 1747 a num- 
ber of persons who had joined together for the pur- 
pose of worship met for services in a small house in 
Sterling alley — afterward in Cherry alley— between 
Third and Fourth streets. They were mostly Ger- 
man and Polish Jews; and their differences as to 
the liturgy to be followed prevented at the time the 
formation of any regular congregation. When the 
British troops occupied New York 
Phila- during the Revolutionary War, the 
delpliia. minister, Gershom Mendes Seixas, 
with a considerable portion of the 
New York congregation, came to Philadelphia, and, 
finding no regular services, they, with the help of 
the resident Jews, established one in accordance 
with the Portuguese rite. Seixas was the first min- 
ister. After him no man of importance held the 
position until Isaac Leeser, 1839. He was the leading 



America 



THE JEWISH ENCYCLOPEDIA 



498 



Jewish minister of his time; and not more than 
two or three others have left such an impress upon 
American-Jewish affairs as he. Minister, teacher, 
organizer, translator of the Bible, editor, and pub-- 
lisher, he was in every way indefatigable. Other 
prominent persons were the Phillips family, chief 
among them being Zalegman Phillips, Henry M. 
Phillips, the latter one of the leading lawyers of 
Philadelphia and a member of the Thirty-fifth 
Congress. There followed Leeser, as minister of 
the Mickve Israel Congregation, Sa- 
Notable bato Morais, a native of Leghorn, 
Philadel- Italy, who from 1851 until his death in 
phia Jews. 1897 was a leading figure in American- 
Jewish affairs. He first suggested 
the Jewish Theological Seminary in New York. 

The first German congregation was the Rodeph 
Shalom, which received a charter on Aug. 12, 1802, 
but which no doubt had meetings at an earlier date. 
The most prominent of its rabbis was Marcus Jas- 
trow ; the best-lmown cantor, Jacob Frankel. The 
latter acted during the Civil War as chaplain of 
hospitals under the United States government. The 
first leading Reform minister installed in Philadel- 
phia was rabbi Samuel Hirsch. Many other congre- 
gations have since been formed, more especially 
since 1882, when the Russian immigration brought 
large numbers to the city. 

Philadelphia has always been prominent in educa- 
tional matters. The first Jewish Sunday-school was 
organized there in 1838; tlie Hebrew Education So- 
ciety, in 1848 ; and the Maimonides College, in 1867. 
The largest fund in the United States for higher 
Jewish education is that provided by a deed of gift 
from Hyman Gratz to the Mickve Israel Congrega- 
tion in trust, from which Gratz College is supported. 
One of the most comprehensive of works relating 
to Jews of any single community in 
Maimon- the United States is " The Jews 
ides of Philadelphia," by Henry Samuel 

and Gratz Morais, published in Philadelphia in 
Colleges. 1894. Philadelphia Jews have been 
prominent in many professions, in the 
fine arts, and in all the avenues of manufacture and 
commerce. Up to 1894 as many as 116 had been 
admitted to the bar; and the number has since been 
greatly increased. Three Jews served in Congress 
as representatives of the state. 

Jews gradually made their way to the western 
part of the state, settling in large numbers in Pitts- 
burg, which, after Philadelphia, is the next largest 
community in Pennsylvania. That of Wilkesbarre 
Is notable for its numbers and for the high character 
of its members. Since the Russian immigration 
Jews have made their way to every part of the state ; 
and there is scarcely a town of any size which is 
now without its community or congregation. 

Georgia : In none of the colonies which after- 
ward formed the United States did the Jews arrive 
in numbers so early after the establishment of the 
colony as in Georgia. On July 7, 1733, Oglethorpe, 
its founder and governor, had assembled the colo- 
nists, who had arrived one montli previously, on the 
site of the present city of Savannah for the purpose 
of allotting to each settler his proportion of land. 
While the colonists were partaking of a public din- 
ner, given at the close of the day's proceedings, there 
came up the Savannah river, from London, a vessel 
containing 40 Jewish emigrants. Their arrival was 
not expected; but on the whole they were kindly 
received. One of their number. Dr. Nunis, was es- 
pecially valuable for his attention to the sick. The 
trustees in London were opposed to the settlement 
of the Jews ; but Oglethorpe included the names of 



a half-dozen of them as grantors in a conveyance, 
executed Dec. 21, 1733, of town lots, gardens, and 
farms. These original settlers, all of 
Savannah., whose names have been recorded, were 
the progenitors of families still in ex- 
istence in various parts of the United States. The 
first male white child born in the state of Georgia 
was a Jew, Isaac Minis. Abraham de Lyon had 
prior to 1737 introduced the culture of grapes, he 
having been a winegrower in Portugal. By 1743 the 
number of Jews in Savannah was so diminished 
that the services in the synagogue had to be discon- 
tinued, three only of the original families remaining. 
A quarter of a century later several returned from 
Charleston. 

In 1774 another congregation was started, which 
was gradually augmented until the outbreak of the 
American Revolution. Immediately after the close 
of the war many Jews returned to Savannah; and 
on July 7, 1786, they hired a dwelling-house for a 
place of worship. On Nov. 30, 1790, a charter for a 
congregation, under the name of " Mickve Israel of 
Savannah," was granted. The religious exercises 
of the congregation were conducted gratuitously by 
Dr. de la Motta ; and in 1820, on the occasion of the 
consecration of the synagogue, he delivered an ad- 
dress which is still a "document of the very greatest 
value to American-Jewish history. The synagogue 
was destroyed by fire in 1829, and was replaced by 
a substantial structure of brick. 

Augusta was the next town in the state settled by 
Jews. The first arrival — about 1825 — was one Flor- 
ence accompanied by his wife. Other 
Augusta, families followed in 1826 from Charles- 
Macon, etc. ton. The first congregation, B'ne 
Israel, was organized in 1846. At- 
lanta, Columbus, and Macon have considerable com- 
munities; and a number of congregations are scat- 
tered throughout the state ; but the community in 
Savannah is still the most important. At Atlanta 
there is a Home for Orphans, founded and managed 
by the Independent Order B'ne B'rith. 

South. Carolina : As early as 1742 Jews left 
Savannah and settled in Charleston. A congrega- 
tion was formed in 1750, and its members worshiped 
for seven years in a small wooden house in Union 
street, near Queen street. They purchased a burial- 
ground in 1757, and in 1781 a large building in 
Union street which was altered and prepared for a 
synagogue. In 1791, when the congregation was in- 
corporated, it consisted of 51 families, numbering in 
all about 400 persons. Two years later these had 
increased so much that a new syna- 
Charleston. gogue was erected at a cost of §20,- 
000, which was completed in 1794. 
The community was augmented after the Revolu- 
tion by a large number of Jews from New Yoi-k, 
who settled in Charleston, and remained there 
till the commencement of the Civil War. Jews 
are now settled in small numbers throughout the 
state. The first Reform movement in any congre- 
gation in America was instituted in Charleston in 
1825. 

North Carolina : In 1808 an attempt was made 
to expel a member of the General Assembly of 
North Carolina because of his Jewish faith. In 1826 
the number of Jewish settlers in the state was esti- 
mated at 400, which was considerably augmented 
after the emigration of 1848. The largest commu- 
nity at the present time (1901) is that of Wilmington. 
Virginia and West Virginia : Stray Jewish 
settlers came to Virginia about 1658, some of whose 
names and transactions have been handed down. 
At least one Jewish soldier — possibly two — served 



499 



THE JEWISH ENCYCLOPEDIA 



America 



in Virginia regiments under Washington in his ex- 
pedition across the Alleghany mountains in 1754. 
It is likely that quite a number of Jews removed 
from Baltimore and other points in Maryland to 
Riclimond at an early date. The Congregation Beth 
Shalom was formed in the latter place about the 
year 1791. The Richmond community has since 
grown to considerable proportions, as has also that 
of Norfolk. Congregations now exist in about 20 
towns in the state, and in at least 4 towns in West 
Virginia. 

Loxiisiaua : Judah Touro came to New Orleans 
as early as 1801. The first interment in the Jewisli 
cemetery of that city took place on June 28, 1838. 
The community there grew rapidly from 1848 on : 
and numbers of congregations and important chari- 
table organizations were established. Similar prog- 
ress is noticeable throughout the entire state, 19 
towns now having Jewish communities. 

Kentucky : The first person of undoubted Jew- 
ish blood to settle in Kentucky was a Mr. Salamon, 
of Philadelphia, who established himself at Harrods- 
burg about 1808. In 1816 he was appointed cashier 
of the bank of the United States at Lexington. A 
service was established in 1838; and by 1843 there 
was a synagogue which, under the name of " Adas 
Israel," obtained a charter from the legislature. 

Louisville now (1901) has six congregations as 
well as a considerable number of philanthropic and 
educational institutions. The major 
liOuisville. portion of tlie Jews of Kentucky re- 
side in Louisville ; but there are com- 
munities in at least a half-dozen other towns in the 
state. 

The remaining Southern states, with a single ex- 
ception, can be but barely mentioned here. Jews 
settled in the territory which is now Alabama as 
early as 1724; and the first congregation was formed 
in Mobile in 1841. Birmingham, Mobile, Mont- 
gomery, and many smaller towns have flourishing 
communities. 

Texas : Jews played a very considerable part in 
the settlement and development of Texas. The first 
Jewish settler was Samuel Israel, who came from 
the United States in 1831, when Texas was still a 
portion of Mexico. He received a grant of land in 
Fort Bend county, and later a bounty-warrant in 
Polk county for services in the army of Texas in 
1836 and 1837. He was followed by Abraham C. 
Labat, of Charleston, S. C, who arrived in 1831. 
One of the first to take advantage of the new chan- 
nel of trade opened to the United States by the re- 
sults of the battle of San Jacinto in 1836, which 
made Texas an independent republic, was Jacob de 
Cordova, of Spanish Town, Jamaica. In 1837 he 
settled in Galveston and became a citizen of the re- 
public ; and he had a large share in settling persons 
on tracts of land in Texas. 

The most important of the early settlers, however, 

was Henry Castro, pioneer of that portion of Texas 

to the west of the cit_y of San Antonio. 

Early He served in the French army, and 

Settlers, emigrated to the United States after 
the fall of Napoleon in May, 1837, 
and, having become an American citizen, was ap- 
pointed consul for Naples at Providence, R. I. On 
June 15, 1842, Castro entered into a contract with 
Pi'esident Houston for settling a colony west of the 
Medina. This colony he inaugurated Sept. 3, 1844; 
and it is estimated that between 1848 and 1846 he 
introduced more than 5,000 emigrants into the state. 
On the admission of Texas into the Union, a Jew, 
David S. Kauffman, was elected one of her con- 
gressmen; and he served until his death in 1851. 



Texas, in proportion to her Jewish population, has 
had an unusually large number of Jewish citizens 
prominent in public life and in the learned profes- 
sions. Thirty-two towns now have Jewish commu- 
nities ; the largest being those of Dallas, Galveston, 
Houston, San Antonio, and Waco. 

Western. States. — Indiana: As regards He- 
brews in the Western states, the first definite infor- 
mation is of the arrival in Indianapolis in 1794 of 
Jews from England ; but no congregation appears 
to have been organized there until 1856. This con- 
gregation was, however, preceded by those of Fort 
Wayne (1848), Lafayette (1849), and Evansville 
(1853). Twenty -three towns in the state now have 
Jewish communities. 

Michigan : A congregation was organized in 
Detroit, Mch., in 1851. That city now has a con- 
siderable Jewish community. In no other place in 
the state have Jews settled in large numbers. They 
are, however, distributed in small numbers through- 
out the whole of Michigan, there being no less than 
26 towns with Jewish communities, among which 
should be especially mentioned Alpena, Bay City, 
Grand Rapids, and Kalamazoo. 

Ohio : The earliest Jewish commimity of impor- 
tance in the West, and that which still plays a lead- 
ing part in Jewish affairs in the United States, is the 
community of the state of Ohio, more especially that 
of Cincinnati. 

The Jewish pioneer of the Ohio valley was Joseph 
Jonas, who was born in Exeter, England, and ar- 
rived in Cincinnati on March 8, 1817. In 1819 he was 
joined by three others. Many more, all of English 
birth, followed, until the year 1830, when a wave of 
German emigration flowed into Cincinnati. As early 
as 1819, services were held on New-year's Day and 
on the Day of Atonement. In 1825 a congregation 
was formed, under the name "Kahal Kadosh B'ne 
Yisrael." Two others were established in 1841, and 
a fourth in 1848. Largely through the influence of 
Isaac M. Wise, but powerfully aided by capable and 
public-spirited members of the corn- 
Cincinnati, munity, Cincinnati has indelibly im- 
pressed itself upon Judaism in Amer- 
ica. It is the seat of the Union of American-Hebrew 
Congregations, of the Board of Delegates, and of the 
Hebrew Union College, which now supplies the pul- 
pits of a large majority of the Reformed congrega- 
tions of the United States. 

Second in importance is the community of Cleve- 
land, in which town Jews settled as early as 1839. 
A congregation was founded in 1846, and a second 
in 1850. Jews are now settled in 30 towns in the 
state. 

Illinois : The state of New York contains more 
than one-third of the Jewish population of the 
United States ; and the states of Penns3'lvania and 
Illinois together comprise one fifth, these two latter 
being about equal. This is all the more surprising 
in view of the comparatively recent opening-up of 
the western territory ; though it is quite certain that 
there were Jewish settlers in the Illinois territory 
during French rule about 1700. 

Chicago received its charter not earlier than the 
year 1837. The first authentic information of the 
settlement of Jews there dates back to 1841 ; and in 
1843 a large number arrived. The first Jew to buy 
land in Cook county was Henry Meyer, who came 
to Illinois in the spring of 1847. In 1845 the first 
Jewish organization was established under the name 
of "The Jewish Burial-Ground Society." The Ke- 
hillat Anshe Ma'arab was organized in 1847, being 
the oldest congregation in the Northwest; a second, 
B'nai Sholom, was established in 1852. In 1858 the 



America 



THE JEWISH ENCYCLOPEDIA 



500 



first steps were taken toward the formation of a 
Jewish Reform association, which resulted in the es- 
tablishment of the Sinai Congregation 

Chicago, in 1861. Since that time the growth of 
the Jewish community there has been 
In every way proportionate to the growth of the 
city itself, which, though not yet 70 years old, is in 
point of population the second city in the United 
States. Fifty congregations are known to exist; 
and there are no doubt many smaller ones whose 
names have not yet been ascertained. The Jewish 
community of Chicago has many notable educational 
establishments and hospitals, and has furnished dis- 
tinguished members of the legal profession, archi- 
tects, and musicians. Among its prominent rabbis 
Liebmann Adler, B. Pelsenthal, and Emil G. Hirsch 
may be named. Jewish communities are known to 
exist in 16 cities and towns of the state. 

Central and Southwestern States : Of these 
but a bare mention can be made here. 

])Iissouri: For a year previous to the admission of 
Missouri into the Union as a state, the territory was 
inhabited by Jews, a family by the name of Bloch 
having settled there in 1816. 

The first religious services were held in St. Louis 
in 1836, and in 1837 a congregation was established. 
St. Louis and Kansas City now have very consider- 
able Jewish communities, and smaller ones exist in 
8 other towns in the state. 

Tennessee : There are Jewish communities in 
Memphis, Nashville, Knoxville, and other towns. 

Minnesota : The first congregation in Minnesota 
was established at St. Paul in 1856, which now has 
a considerable community, as has also Minneapolis ; 
Duluth ranking third. Milwaukee has also a large 
Jewish community, the first congregation having 
been established in 1852. It has now no less than 
5 congregations; and there are congregations in 13 
other towns of the state of Wisconsin. 

Iowa: The oldest congregation in Iowa is that 
of Keokuk, founded in 1856. The largest congrega- 
tion is in Des Moines; and Jews now live in 11 towns 
in the state, though in small numbers and greatly 
scattered. 

Kansas : The earliest congregation seems to 
have been that of Leavensworth, founded in 1860. 
Bight towns now have Jewish communities. 

Nebraska : The first Jewish congregation was 
founded about 1870 in Omaha, which now has a 
considerable communitj'. There are also congrega- 
tions at Lincoln and several smaller towns through- 
out the state. 

California : Jews went to the Pacific coast in 
large numbers on the announcement of the discovery 
of gold in 1849; and as early as 1850 two congrega- 
tions had been established in San Francisco. The 
community grew with great rapidity; and it dif- 
fered somewhat from the other Jewish communities 
in the United States at that time, in that while the 
sole additions of population to the eastern part of 
the United States were from Germany, California 
received quotas from England, France, and Holland 
as well. Sacramento, Los Angeles, and many other 
towns have congregations ; but the bulk of the Jews 
in the state are in San Francisco. There are at least 
11 congregations in this city, a hospital, an orphan 
asylum, and many other organizations. As a result 
of this movement toward the Far West, settlements 
have been made in other states. 

Other States and Territories : Jews were in 
Oregon as early as 1850, and in the city of Portland 
a congregation was founded in 1858. 

At Salt Lake City a congregation was established 
in 1881; but it is asserted that Jews went there 



much earlier and furnished a few converts to Mor- 
monism. 

Colorado has its principal community in Denver, 
the earliest congregation there having been estab- 
lished in 1874. A National Home for Consumptives 
was opened in that city in 1899. There are commu- 
nities in 7 other towns of the state. 

The great wave of Russian immigration has also 
pushed westward. Montana, Washington, and 
North and South Dakota now have congregations. 
It may be confidently asserted that, in spite of the 
apparent congestion on the eastern seaboard, there is 
no state or territory in the Union which at the pres- 
ent writing (1901) is without a Jewish community. 
Indeed, this statement may be extended to include 
the distant territories recently brought under the 
jurisdiction of the United States; since there are 
already congregations in Porto Rico, in the Hawaiian 
Islands, and in the Philippines. 

Canada : Aaron Hart, born in London, England, 
1724, who was in the British army about 1760, seems 
to have been the first Jewish settler in Canada. In 
that decade a dozen or more men of means settled 
in Montreal ; and in 1768 they formed a congrega- 
tion which took the name of "Shearith Israel." In 
1807 the question of the political status of the Jew 
was raised by the election of Ezekiel Hart as a mem- 
ber of the legislature. Refusing to take the oath on 
the faith of a Christian, he was allowed by the clerk 
to take it in the Jewish form and with head covered ; 
but, after an exciting debate, his seat was declared 
vacant and the election null. He was reelected by 
a heavy majority, but was again prevented from 
taking his seat ; and a bill was brought in to dis- 
qualify Jews for seats in the House of 
Political Assembly. The governor-general on 

Status May 15, 1809, highly displeased with 

of Jews, the legislature, dissolved the House; 
and it was not until 1831 that all the 
disqualifications of Jews were removed. It is a 
noteworthy fact that Canada extended full political 
rights to Jews more than a quarter of a century be- 
fore the mother-country. 

The first regular minister of the Montreal syna- 
gogue was J. R. Cohen, who settled in Montreal 
about 1778. The most distinguished minister of 
the congregation was Abraham de Sola, who held 
office from 1846 to 1882, and was a well-known author 
and professor of Hebrew in McGill University. A 
German congregation was established there in 1846, 
and a Reform congregation in 1882. Since 1890 
a large number of Russian Jews have immigrated to 
Canada, many of whom have engaged in agricul- 
tural pursuits. Jews are also settled in Toronto, in 
Halifax (Nova Scotia), in Victoria, Winnipeg, and 
in various portions of Manitoba. 

"Waves of Immigration : All the great nations 
of historic times have been composed of immigrants. 
Pressure of population, the nomadic or seafaring 
spirit, the desire for adventure, for conquest, or 
for commerce, the tyrannj' of governments or of 
churches, have all contributed to turn the human 
race into a vast migrator}' species, more capable of 
adaptability as it is to new environment, than any 
other form of life. In the birth of intense national 
feeling following upon the establishment of the Ger- 
man empire, the fact has frequently been lost sight of 
that none of the peoples now inhabiting any great 
state is indigenous. 

The expulsion of the Jews from Spain, and later 
from Portugal, and the activity of the Inquisition 
against the secret Jews, called Maranos, in those 
countries, coupled with the circumstance that these 
two peoples were the principal explorers and colon- 



501 



THE JEWISH ENCYCLOPEDIA 



America 



izers of Central and South America, were the factors 
in determining the early immigration of Jews to 
America, which was composed exclusively of Span- 
ish and Portuguese exiles, who settled 
Spanish in all the islands to which ships 
and Portu- from these countries went. This im- 
guese migration began with the first settle- 
Exiles, ment of the American continent, and 
was almost exclusively confined to 
Central and South America; although the settlers 
who arrived at Savannah, Ga. , in 1733 went di- 
rect from Lisbon, making but the briefest stay in 
England. As the immigration gradually spread in 
South America small numbers of settlers made their 
way from Brazil, Curasao, or the West India Is- 
lands to North America, and thence the first Jewish 
settlements in what is now the United States were 
derived. 

To Spain and Portugal Holland succeeded as an 
exploring nation in the early part of the seventeenth 
century. With the outbreak of the revolt of the 
Netherlands against Spain in 1567 there developed, 
by way of protest against the bigotry of the Span- 
iards, the broadest toleration then known in Europe. 
By the middle of the centur)% when Holland had 
extorted recognition of her independence even from 
Spain, when she was in league with England and 
Sweden and was at the height of her power, many 
Jews of wealth, learning, and influence — largely 
though not exclusively Spanish exiles — had settled 
in her dominions; and these were deeply interested 
in the Dutch West India Company, which deter- 
mined the attitude of the government toward the 
settlement of Jews in their new dominions. The 
Jews in Brazil, moreover, recognizing the favorable 
attitude of the Holland government toward their 
coreligionists, powerfully aided the Dutch in their 
successful attack upon Brazil in 1634. The Dutch 
dominion lasted until 1654; and during the inter- 
vening period many Dutch Jews came to Brazil and 
other settlements, thus reinforcing the original mi- 
gration from Spain and Portugal. Owing to the 
reconquest of Brazil and the subsequent flight of 
the Jews, these Spanish, Portuguese, and Dutch 
Jews found their way to the West India Islands and 
to North America. Jews began to go to New Am- 
sterdam from Holland probably as early as 1652. 
These, then, constitute the main source whence the 
Sephardic-Jewish settlers were derived, although 
stragglers came from France, from 
Dutch- England, and even from the Orient, 
Sephardic at an early period. It should be stated, 
Jews. however, that not all of the Dutch 
Jews were of Sephardic stock. Pro- 
portionate to the extent of English colonization in 
the West India Islands surprisingly few Jews went 
from England to the American colonies or the West 
India Islands. Some undoubtedly did go to Jamaica 
and other islands, as well as to the continent, even 
up to the beginning of the present century; and 
they were pioneers in several states, but rather as 
individuals than in any considerable bodies. This is 
no doubt due to the fact that at the period of the 
earliest settlement of America there were few if any 
Jews in England ; and later on they were too well 
satisfied with the conditions there to seek a home 
elsewhere, although a small number did go to Canada. 
Jews of the Ashkenazic rite went 
Ashke- early to America, but only as strag- 
nazic Jews, glers ; an occasional one, to Mexico ; 
and a few, from Holland, to New Am- 
sterdam. From 1730 forward Germany was a theater 
of war and pettj' persecutions and of the drafting 
of able-bodied men into the armies, either for local 



purposes or to be sold as mercenaries to foreign 
powers. As the result of a desire to escape these 
hardships there ensued a steady immigration of Ger- 
mans to New York, to Georgia, and, above all, to 
Pennsylvania, where Germans were most hospitably 
received. In 1750 the German settlers in Pennsyl- 
vania alone were estimated at 90,000 out of a total 
population of 370,000; and among this enormous 
number there was quite a considerable bodj' of Jews. 
A lesser number had settled in New York within the 
same period. 

The first partition of Poland in 1773, and the un- 
settlement of affairs consequent thereupon, brought 
the first contingent of Polish Jews (through Ger- 
many) to America; and this number gradually grew 
with the successive disasters to Poland and the in- 
corporation of the territory and people with Russia, 
Germany, and Austria. The Napoleonic wars, the 
general misery which followed in Germany, the de- 
sire to avoid military conscription, the eager wish to 
partake of the advantages ofi;ered in the new coun- 
try, all impelled a steady stream of German-Jewish 
immigration to the United States be- 
German- ginning about 1830, reaching its height 
Jewish Im- between 1848 and 1850, and continuing 
migration, until 1870, when it ceased to be a con- 
siderable factor. This immigration 
was principally from South Germany, from the 
Rhine provinces, and more especially from Bavaria. 
The immigrants were mostly from small towns; 
rarely from the larger cities or from North Germany, 
which contained well-organized Jewish communities. 
The most momentous, and at the same time the 
most easily recognized wave of immigration was 
that from Russia, which practically began in 1883. 
Restrictive measures against the Jews had been for 
a long time enforced in the empire. The Jews 
were regarded as a legacy from Poland, and were 
practically confined to that region ; but many had 
gradually settled in other parts of the empire. In 
Slay, 1882, a series of the most proscriptive laws 
ever passed against Jews in any country was pro- 
mulgated. These laws practically forbade residence 
outside of a narrow pale of settlement, restricted 
higher and secondary education of Jews, mercantile 
and professional pursuits, and left open no course 
but emigration en bloc. A small portion of this 
emigration was directed hy Baron de Hirsch to the 
Argentine Republic, and some to Canada; but the 
great bulk, by a natural impulse, came to the United 
States. In the past year (1900) it would appear 

from available figures that no less / 
Russian than 000,000 iRussian-Galician Jewsg::^^, ^(Jt 
Jews. migrated to the United States; and 
within the year the proscriptive laws 
of Rumania have started a tide whose force none 
can foresee. These various movements have given 
America the third largest Jewish population in the 
Avorld, and will probably in the future remove the 
center of Jewish activity to the United States. 

Education : In the very earliest years of the 
establishment of the first Jewish congregation in 
New York city there was attached to the synagogue 
a school in which ordinary, as well as Hebrew, 
branches were taught. It was one of the earliest 
general schools in America. Religious education 
and instruction in Hebrew were established in con- 
nection with most of the earlj^ synagogues or were 
given privately ; while for ordinary secular educa- 
tion the Jews resorted to the schools and colleges 
in existence, although these were largely under the 
patronage of one or another sect of the Christian 
church. There was a Jewish matriculate at the 
University of Pennsylvania, for instance, as early 



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502 



as 1773. As has already been noted, there was es- 
tablished in Philadelphia as early as 1838 a general 
Sunday-school quite irrespective of 
Early congregational organization ; and this 
Jewish. Ma- was the beginning of a movement, 
triculates. which has spread throughout the coun- 
try, for the organization of educa- 
tional work along lines quite independent of con- 
gregational activities. 

A similar school was organized in Charleston, 
S. C, in the same year; in the following year, one in 
Richmond, Va. ; in 1845 this movement spread to 
New York, being taken up first by the Emanuel 
Society, although the Shearith Israel congregation 
had started a Hebrew school system as early as 1808. 
In 1840 MoRDECAi M. Noah, a well-known traveler, 
politician, and journalist, urged the formation of a 
Jewish college in the United States; and in 1848 the 
Hebrew Education Society was founded at Phila- 
delphia — originally a school for general instruction 
in the ordinary branches up to and through the 
grade of grammar school, coupled with instruction 
in Hebrew and in the Jewish religion. In 1864 the 
Hebrew Free School Association was incorporated in 
New York; and throughout various states of the 
Union a movement gradually spread for the organi- 
zation of free religious schools which 
Organiza- would bring into a common school 
tion of Free sj^stem children from the various con- 
Schools, gregations in each city. These were 
largely intended to supersede the pri- 
vate instruction that had theretofore been given. 
They were, in the main, carried on b}' volunteer 
teachers ; and their distinguishing feature was that 
the instruction was usually conducted by native- 
born persons and in the English language as against 
the German teaching in the congregational schools. 
The whole tendency of this educational work was 
toward the unification of the community and the 
bringing-out of its individual members from the 
rather narrow congregational life that had prevailed. 
Within the last decade or so there has been a decided 
reaction; and religious schools and Sabbath-schools 
have been highly organized in connection with in- 
dividual congregations. Particular stress is laid 
upon them by the congregations ; and much of the 
communal strength is derived from them. While 
the Hebrew education societies and schools con- 
tinue in existence, they do not develop or flourish 
as might be expected ; in fact, since 1883 they have 
largely taken upon themselves an entirely new 
function. With the sudden arrival in this country 
of the large number of Russian Jews having no 
knowledge of the English language, and in many 
cases without any particular handicraft, there de- 
volved upon the American Jewish community the 
necessity of providing, first, day and night schools 
for teaching the new arrivals Eng- 
Teclinical lish; and, second, manual training 
Schools, and technical schools. These have 
been established in New York, Phil- 
adelphia, Chicago, and in other cities, more or less 
with the aid of the Baron de Hirsch Fund. 

Of higher education there has been nothing gen- 
eral, but only special and theological. In 1855 
I. M. Wise projected a theological college in Cincin- 
nati under the name of " Zion College " ; but the 
plan came to naught. In 1867 there was established, 
largely through the instrumentality of Isaac Leeser, 
Maimonides College at Philadelphia, which, how- 
ever, was of scarcely longer duration than its pred- 
ecessor. It was not until the year 1875 that there 
was founded, by the Union of American Hebrew 
Congregations, the Hebrew Union College of Cin- 



cinnati, which is devoted to the training of rabbis 
and teachers. While theoretically without partizan 
bias, it is practically the representative of the Re- 
form wing in America. In 1886 there was estab- 
lished in New York the Jewish Theological Semi- 
nary, also for the training of rabbis 

Theolog- and teachers, and representing the Or- 

ical In- thodox wing of the community. In 
stitutions. 1893 there was founded in Philadel- 
phia, through a trust vested in the 
Mickve Israel congregation by Hyman Gratz, Gratz 
College, which is devoted to the preparation of teach- 
ers for Jewish schools, practically occupying the 
place of a normal school. 

Throughout the United States there have been 
established in connection with the various congrega- 
tions, and also independently, societies and Young 
Men's Hebrew associations which are to a certain 
extent educational in their character. They usually 
sustain small libraries and provide lecture-courses on 
secular and religious topics. In 1893 there was 
foimded the Jewish Chautauqua Society, which has 
branches all over the country and bears the same 
relation to the regular schools and colleges as does 
the University Extension movement, as interpreted 
in America, to regular colleges for university work. 
The CotjNCii, OF Jewish Women has engaged to 
a considerable extent in educational work among its 
own members. In 1886 there was organized a Sab- 
bath-school Union for the purpose of promoting uni- 
formity and approved methods in Sabbath-school in- 
struction. There are at present (1900) in the United 
States 415 Jewish educational organizations, 391 of 
which are religious schools attached to congrega- 
tions, with 1,137 teachers and an attendance of about 
35,000 pupils. There are also 37 Jewish free schools, 
cliiefly in large cities, with about 11,000 pupils and 
143 teachers. 

Three societies have been organized in the United 

States to issue Jewish publications — the first, in 

Philadelphia in 1845; the second, in 

Publica- New York in 1873, and the third, 
tion Soci- in Philadelphia in 1888. This last Is a 
eties and flourishing organization, and has is- 
Libraries. sued many instructive and Important 
works. Among the educational activ- 
ities should also be mentioned the American Jewish 
Historical Society organized in 1893. Associated 
with many of the schools there are now circulating 
and reference libraries, as well as several independ- 
ent ones, the largest of which is the Aguilar Library 
in New York, founded in 1886. The Maimonides 
Library of the Independent Order B'ne B'rith in 
New York was organized in 1851. 

It should be said in this connection that this Order 
and many of the other Orders and lodges had educa- 
tional features — lectures and otherwise — and did 
pioneer work in the education of their members. 

Of Jewish periodicals and newspapers published 
at one time or another in the United States, not less 
than 83 have been in English or German, 16 in 
Hebrew, and 83 in Yiddish. 

Philanthropy : Of the philanthropic work of 
Jews in America practically nothing is known out- 
side of the United States and Canada; and under 
these heads the subject will be treated in detail. In 
a general way it may be said that, until a very re- 
cent time, philanthropic work took the form of ordi- 
nary charity. The poor were clothed, fed, and kept 
warm, the sick were visited, and the dead were 
buried. The higher philanthropic work, that of pre- 
venting poverty by improvement of conditions and 
surroundings, is but a recent development. From 
the earliest arrival of Jews in this country, it was 



503 



THE JEWISH ENCYCLOPED] 



001 388 416 n 



erica 



their ideal that none of their poor should become a 
charge upon the general community ; and in the 

earlier days charity was dispensed by 

Early by individuals, or by funds collected 

Individual through the congregations ; the former, 

Charity, however, being the prevalent means. 

A well-to-do family, or even one in 
but comfortable circumstances, would care for one 
or more poorer families, supplying them regularly 
with the necessaries of life. Gradually, as the He- 
brew population increased, this method proved to be 
inadequate, and societies — generally small, and hav- 
ing specific objects — were formed. Some were for 
the visitation of the sick and the burial of the dead ; 
some, in connection with congregations, for general 
charitable purposes; and some for the distribution 
of unleavened bread for tlie Passover. Still later, 
as the need grew, associations for the care of or- 
phans, hospitals for the care of the sick, and, later 
still, homes for the aged were erected. Most of 
these societies and institutions were small; their 

work was done with insufficient funds 

Charitable and by voluntary officers, and with- 

Org'an- out a definite plan. It was seen that 

izations. this scattering of forces produced 

waste, and it was feared that it tended 
to pauperism ; so that in all the large cities a gradual 
amalgamation took place of the various charitable 
organizations into one society with a trained officer. 
These societies usually included all the organiza- 
tions, with the exception of the hospitals and the 
orphan asylums, in a given city, and had for their 
purpose the rendering of immediate relief. Later 
still, in each of a few cities, a central organization 
was formed, which included the hospitals and or- 
phan asylums, and whose object it was to have a 
central body to collect funds for all the charitable 
organizations jn the city and to distribute them pro 
rata. Of recent years it has been realized that this 
highly organized method of distributing charity has 
resulted in placing the whole matter on a somewhat 
mechanical basis, and has not always been produc- 
tive of such good results as the old and unscientific 
giving from man to man, which bore with it the 
evidence of a certain human sympathy. Conse- 
quently in all the large cities an endeavor is being 
made to return to a more personal relation between 
the rich and the poor ; and Sisterhoods or Personal 
Service societies have been organized to aid in the 
intelligent and sympathetic distribution of relief. 

The most recent development has been the Na- 
tional Conference of Jewish Charities in the United 
States, founded Dec. 1, 1899, in Cincinnati, and com- 
posed of 40 relief organizations. Its object is to 

promote reforms in administration and 

Pllil- uniformity of action without interfer- 

anthropic ing with the work of any local society. 

Homes. There are at present 15 homes for 

orphans, or societies for their care, in 
the United States ; 13 homes for the aged ; and 9 hos- 
pitals. It is estimated that there are 593 Jewish 
philanthropic organizations in the United States. 

Relig'ious Development : Until a very recent 
date, religious development was not marked by any 
special feature. The Jews who came to the Spanish 
and Portuguese settlements were all Maranos who, 
while attached to the Catholic Church at home, had 
secretly observed the tenets of their own religion, 
and had, to a certain extent, mingled the rites of 
Catholicism with those of their own faith. From 
the testimony given in Inquisition trials it appears 
that quite a series of new customs arose from this 
mixture. 
In the Dutch settlements, the Dutch tradition was 



usually maintained, the rabbis being imported from 
Amsterdam. From the very beginning the .Tews in 
the United States consisted of both Sephardim and 
Ashkenazim; but the former were at first in the 
majority, and organized the four earliest congrega- 
tions in the country ; namely, those of New York, 
Newport, Savannah, and Philadelphia. As early as 
1766 a translation into English of the Prayers — 
probably the first English-Jewish Prayer-Book ever 
issued — was published in New York. 

In Jamaica and in Canada there has always been 
more or less dii-ect relation with England ; but in the 
United States the entire rehgious life of Jews has 
been especially characterized by the absence of de- 
pendence upon any European authority, as well as 
by the absence of any central authority in America. 
Congregational autonomy has been the watchword. 

The movement for ceremonial reform began in 

Charleston ia 1825. It was strongly supported in 

Albany, and later in Cincinnati, by 

Reform I. M. Wise, from 1850, but did not 
Movement make much headway until the arrival 
Beg'un in in the United States of David Einhorn 
Charleston, and Samuel Hirsch. Under the influ- 
ence of these men and of other rabbis, 
— principally from Germany — the trend toward al- 
terations in the liturgy and ritual set in very strongly ; 
but about 1880 a reaction against the radical tenden- 
cies took place, even on the part of some congrega- 
tions professedly attached to the Reform movement, 
resulting in the formation of an intermediate or a Con- 
servative group. With the influx of large numbers 
of Russian Jews, many congregations of the Ortho- 
dox type were established. The general attitude of 
Jews in America is one of very considerable attach- 
ment to the principles of their religion coupled with 
a gradual abandonment of many of the forms and 
ceremonies, although apostasy and actual defec- 
tions from the synagogue are rare (see America, 
Judaism in). 

Services to the State in Military and in 
Civil Life : As has already been pointed out under i 

"Brazil," the Jews rendered great service to the 
Dutch in their conquest of Brazil in 1624 and after- 
ward in 1646-54 against the Portuguese. They also 
made a brave resistance against the French fleets 
which attacked Surinam in 1689 and 1712 respect- 
ively, and played a considerable part in the sup- 
pression of negro revolts in the same country be- 
tween 1690 and 1772. They had a separate company 
of which David Nassy was captain, and, later, Isaac 
Carvalho (1743). ; 

The first Jewish settlers in Canada were soldiers // 
who came over in Braddock's army, and there is / 
record of their being engaged later on 

Earliest in encounters with the Indians. There 
Jewish Set- were one or two Jews in Washington's 
tiers Were expedition across the Alleghanies in 

Soldiers. 1754. When the first agitation began 
which ended in the Revolutionary 
War, the Jews, like their fellow citizens, were di- 
vided. Some remained loyal to the British crown ; 
but the great majority adhered to the Patriot cause. 
There were 9 Jewish signers to the " non-importa- 
tion " resolutions of 1763; and when the war actually 
broke out, they not only risked their lives, but some, 
like Haym Solomon, helped with their money to 
equip and maintain the armies of the Revolution. 

So far, the names of 45 Jews who served as offi- 
cers and privates in the continental armies have been 
put on record ; and this can hardly be the total num- 
ber, as a considerable proportion were officers. Pos- 
sibly the best known of the latter was David S. 
Franks, who was major, and afterward lieutenant- 



; 



America 



y 

THE An 
I 



ENCYCLOPEDIA 



504 



colonel, on the staff of General Arnold. 1l cue war 
of 1813 there were, as far as known, 43 Jews, of 
whom the most prominent was Brigadier-General 
Joseph Bloomfleld, in charge of Military District 
No. 4, comprising Pennsylvania, Delaware, and 
western New Jersey. In the Mexican War there 
were 57 Jews, the most prominent being David de 
Leon, who twice received the thanks of Congress 
for gallantry. In the Civil War there were on both 
sides 7,038 Jewish soldiers, and in the Spanish- 
American War over 2,000. Besides, a fair number 
has been found in the regular army, as well as in 
the navy (see Army, Jews in, and United States). 
In civil service to the state nearly all of the infor- 
mation at hand relates to the United States. There 
have been 4 Jewish members of the 
Services in United States Senate and about 20 of 
Civil Life, the House of Representatives. Many 
have been in the diplomatic and con- 
sular services, among whom may be specially men- 
tioned Mordecai M. Noah, consul at Tunis; B. F. 
Peixotto, consul at Bucharest; Simon Wolf, consul- 
general in Egypt ; Oscar S. Straus, twice minister to 
Turkey, and Solomon Hirsch, who held the same 
post. 

Jews have served as mayors of cities, members of 
the legislature, judges of the courts; and they have 
hsld many minor offices of trust and confidence. 
Simon W. Rosendale was attorney-general of New 
York; Isador Raynor, attorney-general of Mary- 
land 

The first statue to belong to the United States, and 
which originated Statuary Hall in the Capitol at 
Washington, was one in bronze of Thomas Jefferson 
by David d'Angers, a French sculptor. It was pre- 
sented to the United States in 1838 by a Jew, Lieu- 
tenant, afterward Commodore, Uriah P. Levy, of 
the United v'5tates navy, and was formally accepted 
by Congress in 1874 on the motion of Senator Sum- 
ner. 

Civil and Political Rights : In the colonies 
established on American soil more liberty pi tolera- 
tion was usually shown to the Jews taan in'tjie 
mother countries, yet they labored aSdu serious dis- 
- abilities. In Lima, in Peru, ajjj in Mexico they were 
\ued by the Inquisitiqa. In the Dutch West 
Wslands and provinc?^ they were accorded the 
\t freedom. In Ifew Amsterdam, while there 
was soi5e objection to them, and they 
were at first denied burghers' rights, 
the latter seem to have been granted 
^'iSim at a very early date — a result 
/iie largely, as already stated, to the 
persistence, both by petitions and be- 
fore the courts, of Asser Levy. In 
fffa, Jew were formally granted the 
/m exercise of theii religion. The British 
Kent in 1753 passed an act permitting " per- 
Irofessing the Jewish religion to be naturalized 
Irliament," which was repealed in the follow- 
lear. Not until 1858 might Jews sit in Parlia- 
l; and it was only in 1860 that the words "on 
rrue faith of a Christian " were removed from 
ordinary oath. 
Fhe English provincial governors and assemblies 
liibited a tolerant spirit much earlier. Dr. Lum- 
fjzo was granted letters of denization in Maryland 
eariy as Sept. 10, 1663. In 1670 Sir Thomas 
lynch, governor of Jamaica, was instructed to give 
111 possible encouragement to persons of differing 
ji;ions. In 1672 Rabba Couty of New York ap- 
/§ied to the king in council, and promptly obtained 
edress for a grievance. In 1674 in Barbados Jews 
/were allowed to take the oath upon the five books 



of Moses. A law passed in Jamaica in 1683 required 
applicants for naturalization simply to take the oath 
of allegiance. In 1727 the General Assembly of 
New York voted that Jews taking the oath of ab- 
juration might omit the words "upon the true faith 
of a Christian." 

This liberality was not confined, however, to pro- 
vincial assemblies. In 1740 Parliament passed an 
act for naturalizing, among others, 
In the such Jews " as are settled or shall set- 
British tie in any of His Majesty's colonies in 
Colonies. America." Of the 189 Jews who took 
advantage of this act, 151 were in 
Jamaica, 24 in New York, 9 in Pennsylvania, 4 in 
Maryland, and 1 in South Carolina. Following the 
Declaration of Independence in 1776 most of the 
states placed all citizens upon an absolute equality ; 
the only notable exception being Maryland, in which 
state a prolonged struggle took place before full 
political rights were finally secured (see above, un- 
der " Maryland "). 

The stringent Sunday laws now in force in nearly 
all the states, forbidding Jews to work on the Chris- 
tian Sunday, entail considerable hardship among 
Jews observing the Sabbath ; but these laws are in 
the nature of police regulations, and are not discrim- 
inative against Jews as such. 

Science and Art, Literature, and the 
Learned Professions : Jews have been members 
of all the learned professions — principally the legal 
and medical — and they have contributed to nearly 
all the sciences and to the fine arts. The fact has 
already been mentioned that some Jews have been 
elevated to the bench, and others elected to the post 
of attorney-general. Many eminent physicians, 
medical writers, and professors in medical schools 
are Jews. There has been at least one distinguished 
Hebrew sculptor, Moses Ezekiel, and there are sev- 
eral others of rank. Among artists and etchers 
should especially be mentioned the 
Jews Rosen thals of Philadelphia, father and 
Eminent in son ; and of illustrators the best known 
_ All De- is Louis Loeb. Jews are also found 
pssTtments. as inventors, e.g., Emil Berliner, in- 
^.. ventor of the telephone transmitter; 

as architects, Dankmar Adler of Chicago, and Arnold 
W. Brunnef ijf New York, for instance ; and as en- 
gineers, the most discirg-uished of whom is Mendes 
Cohen of Baltimore, one Vf fhp. pioneer rsA'road 
builders of the country, and at one tim,- president of 
the American Society of Civil Engineers. 

Many Jews hold professorships in colleges: M. 
Bloomfleld and J. H. Hollander at Johns Hopkins ; 
Richard Gottheil and E. R. A. Seligman at Colum- 
bia ; Morris Loeb at the University of New York ; 
Morris Jastrow at the University of Pennsylvania; 
Joseph Jastrow at the University of Wisconsin; 
Charles Gross at Harvard ; while a much larger num- 
ber are assistant professors or instructors. 

The most distinguished Jewish writer of poetry in 
the United States was Emma Lazarus ; Michael Heil- 
prin gained eminence as an editor and writer; A. 
Cahan and Emma Wolf are successful novelists ; and 
Morris Rosenfeld is a gifted Yiddish poet. 

In music a number of Hebrews have acquired a 
reputable position. Jews are also prominent as 
actors and as dramatic authors. Among the latter 
may be mentioned Aaron J. Phillips, 
Music and who first appeared in New York at 
the Stage, the Park Theater in 1815 and was a 
very successful comedian; Emanuel 
Judah, who first appeared in 1823; and Moses S. 
Phillips, who acted at the Park Theater in 1827. 
Mordecai M. Noah, best known as journalist. 



i 




606 



THE JEWISH ENC 



EDIA 



America 



politician, and diplomat, was also a dramatic author 
of considerable note. Other dramatists and au- 
thors were Samuel B. H. Judah (born in New York 
in 1790) and Jonas B. Phillips ; and at the present 
time David Belasco is a most successful playwright. 
It would be impossible to enumerate the Jews now 
on the stage. The introduction of opera into the 
United States was due largely to the instrumentality 
of Jews. 

In Comraerce and Manufacture : In commerce 
Jews were notablj' important in the eighteenth 
centurj'. The fact that the earliest settlers were 
men of means, and were Spanish and Portuguese 
Jews who had relatives and friends settled through- 
out the Levant, gave them specially favorable op- 
portunities for trading. Some were ship-owners; 
one man, Aaron Lopez of Newport, had before the 
Revolutionary War a fleet of thirty vessels. Jews 
very early traded between the West India Islands and 
the North American colonies, as well as with Am- 
sterdam, Venice, etc. 

The Jewisli immigrants who arrived in America 
during the nineteenth century were in the main poor 
people who commenced trading in a small way, usu- 
ally by peddling, which, before the existence of rail- 
roads, was a favorite method of carrying merchan- 
dise into the country districts. By industry and 
frugality they laid the foundations of a considerable 
number of moderate fortunes. The Jews in New 
York became an integral part of that great trading 
community. 

In the early colonial period, more especially in 
Pennsylvania and in New York, many of the Jews 
traded with the Indians. 

The organization under which the Stock Ex- 
change of New York was formed, originated in an 
agreement in 1793 to buy or sell only on a definite 
commission; and to this document were attached 
the signatures of four Jews. Since then Jews have 
been very active in the Stock Ex- 
Jews Ac- change and in banking circles, both 
tive in in New York and elsewhere. They 
Financial have also taken a leading part in coii . 
Circles. trolling the cotton trade. Jew,s are 
likewise very prominent in "^ue man- 
ufacture of cloaks and shirts in the cl ~,'iaing trade, 
and more recently in cigars anr" -y^elry. 
— Tji^ 1888 Markens esti;}iiated ihat the wholesale 
trade in the\^.Snr^ Ji Jews in the city of New York 
amounted to §248,000,000, and the holdings of real 
estate to §150,000,000. 

Agriculture: Jews were the first to introduce 
the culture of the sugar-cane on the western conti- 
nent and of the vine in Georgia. Otherwise their 
agricultural activity was extremely limited until 
the arrival of Russian Jews, from 1881 forward, and 
the powerful impulse given through them to agri- 
culture by emigration societies, by the Baron de 
Hirsch Fund, and by their own great desire to revert 
to the cultivation of the soil (see Agricultukal 
Colonies in the United States). 

Social : The social organization of the Jews resi- 
dent in America has differed little from that in other 
countries. In the early colonial period the wealthier 
Hebrews seem to have taken part with their Chris- 
tian fellow citizens in the organization of dances and 
other social functions, and clubs ; and it is a matter 
of record that the wealthier Jewish families lived 
with comparative good taste and possessed fine 
houses, objects of art, etc. Nevertheless, in the 
main, and without any compulsion, Jews preferred 
to live in close proximity to each other. 

At the time when little toleration was shown in 
other countries, there were in America many inter- 



changes of mutual good^will between Christians and 
Jews. Rabbi Haym Isaac Karigel was apparently a 
close friend of Ezra Stiles, president of Yale College. 
Gershom Mendes Seixas, minister of 
Jews the Shearith Israel congregation. New 
and Chris- York, was a trustee of Columbia 
tians College (1784-1815) although this 
Cooperate, organization was under the Episcopal 
Church; and the Episcopal bishop of 
New York occasionally attended service in the 
synagogue. After 1848 there arrived a large 
number of Jews who could not speak the English 
language, and to them a certain odium attached on 
this account; but this seems to have gradually worn 
off. The general American public exhibited great 
sympathy with the Jews in 1840 at the time of the 
Damascus murders, and again in 1882 on the occa- 
sion of the persecutions in Russia; and Hermann 
Ahlwardt, on his visit to America in 1895, found 
the soil an unfavorable one for his anti-Semitic 
propaganda. 

The only indication of any prejudice against the 
Jews — shown mainly in the Eastern states — has been 
the exclusion of .Jewish children from certain pri- 
vate schools and of Jews generally from some hotels. 

Very early the Jews in America began to form/ 
social organizations. A club was started in Newporif 
as early as 1769 ; and social clubs — some comprising 
many members and possessed of malg- 

Hebrew niticent properties — have been es/ " 
Clubs. lished in many sections of the cou'itry. 
This development of Hebrew ^ocial 
clubs has been larger in the United States than any- 
where else. American Jews have also heq/k espe- 
cially given to the forming of secret " Orders,'" which, 
while they had primarily an educational and chari- 
table purpose, had much social influence, and tended 
powerfully toward the continued association of Jews 
with each other when the hold of the synagogue 
upon them relaxed. These were supplemented later 
by the formation of Young Men's Hebrew Associa- 
tions, ■^I'ai. h, like the Orders, partook to some extent 
o^ tiie riatu'e of social organizations. 

Statistics ^ -til 1818 Mordecai M. Noah estimated 
ihe Jewish populaticra. of the United States at 3,pP" 
and in 1826 Isaac C. H&rby set it at 6,000. I^ ,' 
the "American Almanac" gave the number X 
000; and in 1848 M. A. Btrk estimated it at '/ 
The first systematic attemfA to obtain stf 
information was undertaken b; the Board / 
gates of American Israelites, throigh a CQ.tp> 
which William B. Hackenburg, Sic>^ 
others were members. They estin, \ 
population in 1880 at 330,257. In 18i; \ 
estimated it at 400,000. 

In the reports on the stp/.'^cics oi 
United States at the eleventh census" 
Jewish statistics were collected by Phihp"^ 
His investigations showed that there were 53 
gregations with 130,496 communicants. Of 1 
congregations, 301 worshiped in edifices with i 
proximate seating capacity of 1.39,384. Othei\ 
cupied 233 halls and rooms, having an aggrd 
seating capacity of 28,477. The total value ot]^ 
synagogue property was estimated at §9,754,357 

In 1897 David Sulzberger estimated the total i 
ulation at 937,800; and in 1905 it was estimated^ 

1,253,313. 

Cykus Adlek. 



